Loans grew 4.3 per cent, and deposits rose 7.2 per cent year-on-year during the first half of the year, the company said in a statement.

In April Qatar's central bank limited the amount Qatari citizens can borrow to no more than QR2 million ($549,254) on loans with a maximum maturity of six years and QR400,000 on loans of no more than four years.

The bank has fully applied the new regulations on loans granted to individuals, the statement said.

'We are convinced that the new ceiling on personal loans will not curtail consumer lending,' the bank's Chief Executive Officer R Seetharaman said in the statement.

Seetharaman said in April that it may delay its planned $500 million bond sale until 2012. In October, Doha Bank mandated Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan to arrange for a $500 million bond.

Doha Bank shares closed 1.5 per cent lower prior to the results. They have fallen 20 per cent so far this year. – Reuters